Saturday, June 7, 2014

Ok, very excited to share Earth Shaman development.....
But first I would like to revisit the original design concept for the Earth Shaman because I moved away from it for so long....
If you remember, the original sculpture I made with found nature relics....

Sea urchin behind his head, sea branches for antlers, curled tree
bark for his robe and the piece that inspired it all....a shell for his
face.

And as you can see....The butt of the clam-like shell is his face.
Except for the tree bark all the other pieces were found at Malibu Lagoon

he gazes upward and beyond!

clay sculpt of his head

paper mache' face from the clay sculpt

Then I painted it white and because I didn't like the way it looked
or was going....I layed it down and moved on to other ideas.
So
that brings us up to date.....Now that I have "played with other ideas"
for a while I am coming back to this face to flesh it out a bit more and
see what works and what doesn't (so glad I didn't toss it)

face with some paint on it...... similar to the tile I created (to the right)
There is something happening that I like....taking it further with some foam antlers.

Foam is so easy to make into any shape...much easier than wire and paperclay...at least for these more realistically sized antlers....and much lighter to boot.

Then I reinforced with wire for stability (foam is floppy). Next
time I will use an even stiffer gauge wire (from wire hangers ) An
armature wire on the inside would be great support too.

I want to fuss about some more with these so coating them now with rubber latex- so I can paint them white
I love latex it is so much fun to play with!!

Foam is very porous and the paint doesn't want to adhere....but coat with several layers of rubber and it will take paint much better.

Here is a sample of paper mache on top of foam that worked....I was
considering it for the antlers- to give them more stability (don't want
em flappin' in the wind)
However I concluded that I actually really like the wire design on the antlers and secondly the paper wouldn't stick,
even with the latex. The surface of the antlers is just too bumpy.
Learning materials, that's for sure.

I kinda like this for now...cheese-cloth. It stiffens up really nice and looks scrappy

These have been fun to play with...

So, stepping back and looking at this.... It is pretty close to the
image I had of him in my head from the shell. And yet, there is an
aliveness missing. I need to play some more with him....in more of a
loose way.

Inspiration from the HEArt!
Several weeks
ago I worked for a couple of days with the amazing group of people from
"Honey For The Heart". They are based here in Athens Ohio and make
parade puppets and other magical things and beings. I was inspired by
their use of paper mache', cardboard and lots of other found objects.
Below are some photos of their work. You can find them on Facebook.

Robert Lockheed puppeteering one O' the biguns!

Honey from the Heart beasts

So, I decided to give cardboard a try...

The plan for this puppet head is that he is first on top of my head
and then he comes off when he comes alive. Here is the frame structure
for the mask.

eye lit from behind- I am starting with a large pupils because I
want it to have a more gentle gaze, like an elephant or whale versus a
very defined round black pupil with a penetrating stare...we shall see
how this all looks

Here is a glass [paperweight] I found in an antique store...I like
the depth glass offers. I am considering glass eyes as my partner(Mark)
happens to be a glass-blower!!! why not huh!?

side view

it wouldn't have to have so much color...I would go for something much more subtle ...blues or browns with a black center.

work space

for now these eyes are great!

rough draft face pattern

I must say....it IS a really odd face I picked. not an easy one to replicate....

Egad!! Scared me for a moment...... lookin' a little 'Jar-Jar' here

hmmmm, just a comparison

Sittin' on the deck working and "Oh!...."

Hello!
Didn't even see this guy makin' his way across the deck. sneaky little fella

I thought he was a rattler cause he coiled up, and rattled at me AND
had this patterning but then i saw his cute pointy tail with no rattle
and knew he was a faker....he is a juvenile ratsnake/blacksnake.

Playin' more now...twistin' some cardboard up here and there. This is fun and I like how much more earthy and alive he is looking. Its like the other head is a little too polished looking. I like the roughness of the cardboard. It helps me play too.

Hmmm, something is starting to happen here and I didn't really feel this way until I saw the antlers on him
Sorta resembles the sculpt i did a ways back.....

TWIG Theatre

Twig Theatre is the name given to the work I do with puppets. As well, it is the name of the mobile (puppet) theatre cart I am currently building. (see below)

My vision for this Old World Gypsy theatre is to roll up to any location, open the doors, hang the flickering lanterns, begin the music and Illuminate the night (or day!) with strange and magical puppet beings!

I feel very excited to bring this type of "soul medicine" to the community. To the parks and streets, the town centers, to festivals and sacred fire ceremonies, to our war veterans, our hospitals, our prisons, outside theatre gatherings and backyard shindigs.... anywhere people feel called to this experience.

The actual full-size TWIG Theatre cart

My desire to share this experience...

My vision for Twig Theatre is to share with you that which inspires and moves me.. My puppetry has come to be the perfect medicine for me. As well as connecting me deeply to natures' shadowy raw magical-ness....It keeps me in touch with my own animating breath, my purpose here, the joy of living in my truth and simple beingness. It is enough that I am here breathing...there is nothing more to become. Little Man Monk is my teacher of "beingness"

Herein this blog lies the creation process of Twig Theatre in its many parts...magical puppet beings, traveling theatre cart, Kickstarter project, photographs and videos, performances and processes, thawts and dreams.....